Monday, June 28, 2010

I've been on vacation and off the grid for the past week. I'm back home now - here are a couple of Father's Day portraits that I recently completed as gifts for two Dads. The first portrait is of tattoo artist Danielle Madoreand her daughter, Louise, for Danielle's husband, Chris Dingwell. Danielle sat for her portrait in my Portland studio. The second portrait is of jeweler Mark Anderson and his daughter, Cloe. Mark's wife Jessica Dow commissioned this portrait to be done from a composite of the photos I've posted here. They live in Wisconsin, so a live sitting was not an option! Interesting to work both ways...

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

I stayed up late last night to submit on-line (at the very last minute - it was due by midnight) my application to the Portland Museum of Art Biennial. This will be the 5th or 6th time that I've applied. I have never gotten in, and honestly thought that I wouldn't bother this time around. A bit of sour grapes, probably. Or, just dreading rejection, again. Then I caved and submitted these four pieces from my ancestor portrait series, Mything Persons. I had to hustle to take these photos and piece them together in photoshop. Just four images are accepted - I wanted to show the drawings unframed, and also behind the windows, and I wanted to submit four portraits. My challenge was how to do this in four images. My sister suggested that I put them side by side in each of the four images - I called the museum and they said that this was OK and not breaking any rules. So here they are. My problem is that I never feel that what I have to offer is of enough significance to warrant being chosen for this *venerated venue.* I think my work is too trivial, not of universal appeal, not conceptual enough, blah blah blah, ad nauseam. I decided to silence that nasty voice and simply submit what is my most recent work. Take it of leave it, I say!! (But Iwould be thrilled if they take it...) (and Iknow I'll be sad and disappointed if they don't...) Who am I kidding? This is always an emotional ordeal!!

I dreamt last night that a woman who was in charge of a biennial (it was not the PMA) chose a pale and delicate pencil drawing of mine - a triptych of sorts - to be in the show. She loved it, and I felt so appreciated, understood, and honored. Who is she? Maybe me. Maybe I need to remember that what I think counts!

So here is my artist statement that I banged out at 11:30pm, just under the wire, without looking back. Ah, the rat...(ha ha ha! Freudian typo!!)...I mean,Ah, the ART scene. Wish me luck!!

Mything Persons is a series of portraits taken from a scanned family photo from the late 19th century. Typically I do my portraits from life, but this photo was so compelling, I had to draw these faces that look familiar yet strange. As I stared at the digital image of this old photograph on my computer screen, and zoomed in on each face, I searched the eyes for clues that link them to my life: Were they happy? What did they eat for breakfast that day? Did the women yearn to be more than wives and mothers? Did they enjoy sex? Were the men kind? What dysfunctional behaviors and what loving habits did they pass on to my generation? They look at us through old windows, holding onto their secrets as they merge with our own reflections.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Drawing is a testing of ideas; a slow-motion version of thought. It does not arrive instantly like a photograph. The uncertain and imprecise way of constructing a drawing is sometimes a model of how to construct meaning. What ends in clarity does not begin that way.William Kentridge

Friday, June 11, 2010

...and between working on the portraits that I can't share here yet, these are the things I am seeing. What does the approaching summer (or winter, if you are on the other side of the planet) look like in your backyard?Happy Weekend, All!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

I'm home today with my cats and the hummingbirds, working on the second of the commissioned portraits. I finished one in my studio yesterday. I would love to post about what I'm up to, but it will just have to wait!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

I am working on three commissioned portraits that I will not be able to post about until they have been given as gifts next week. Two involve actual sittings, and the third is strictly from photographs. One sitting is in my Portland studio - one is on my back porch. I seem to be moving forward with the portraiture venture, town and country! It's all good.

Followers

I am an artist, an art teacher, a mother of five children, and a grandmother of four, and I live with my husband and our two cats in the woods of Woolwich, Maine. I teach drawing classes through the Continuing Studies Department at Maine College of Art in Portland, and now privately in my new (!) studio @ 72 Front Street, Bath. My blog 'Martha Miller' shares my art, my process, and my inspirations, and my blog 'Not Bad Thing' showcases my daughter Lisbeth's artwork and process. It is also where I share my experience as a mother of an adult child with special needs. You can see more of my artwork on my website @ www.marthamiller.com